One of the trees that caught my attention at Yamato’s 42nd annual exhibit was an old procumbens juniper.

Procumbens juniper

I haven’t seen a lot of other trees like it. The trunk is mostly straight and the branches are long. The apex is rounded, and the density of foliage is very even. It’s a striking tree – what do you think about it?

One of the trees at Yamato’s recent exhibit was familiar to me. I’d seen it, a sierra juniper, developed since the early 2000s and displayed along the way at local shows. While I don’t have a great photo history of the tree, I do have a couple of shots from a few years back to offer an idea of how the tree has changed over time.

At this past weekend’s Bay Island Bonsai workshop, I wired my procumbens juniper. I didn’t use any heavy wire or make severe bends – for the most part I used fairly small gauge wire (mostly 14-18 with some 12) to tighten up the silhouette. No big changes for now while the tree fills in after thinning.

Front – before

Front – after

Left side – before

Left side – after

Right side – before

Right side – after

Back – before

Back – after

As the branches increase in density, I will replace the remaining heavy branches with smaller ones to create a less helmet-like effect. A repotting is also in order, which may happen later this fall.

This past winter I bought a juniper, procumbens ‘Nana,’ that was already well established as a bonsai. I repotted it soon after taking it home and have been letting it grow freely ever since. I removed about half of the old soil when I repotted, but until I remove the rest, I won’t expect the tree to be as vigorous as it can be in soil that drains better.

To prepare the tree for wiring, I recently thinned the foliage. I also removed a branch at the suggestion of Akio Kondo and extended the shari a bit. Here’s what the tree looked like before and after thinning.

Front – before

Front – after

Left side – before

Left side – after

Right side – before

Right side – after

Back – before

Back – after

As you can see, the shape of the tree didn’t change at all, but the overall density is lower than before. This is especially clear when the tree is viewed from above.

View from above

Next, I jinned a large back branch. The process was simple – I removed most of the secondary and tertiary branching and peeled away the bark on the remaining stubs.

After stripping bark from the end of the jinned branch

It’s always easier to remove the bark when you make jin as postponing the work gives the bark time to dry out, making it much harder to remove.

After stripping the bark at the base of the branch

The jinned branch from below

This was a natural time to extend the shari, so Boon marked areas for me to work on.

Red marks indicate where the new shari will be

I tend to take a lightweight approach to carving deadwood on bonsai. Shari often occurs naturally above and below dead branches as sap can no longer flow through these areas. The few areas I opened up were all adjacent to already dead areas.

Extending the shari above a dead area

Extending shari below the jinned branch

Extending the shari below a dead branch

Widening the shari below dead branches

From the front

I’ll usually let the deadwood dry for up to a year or two before treating it with lime sulfur. Waiting will help me achieve a more natural effect as lime sulfur doesn’t soak in very well to new deadwood. I’ll say more about the thinning process Friday.

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About the author

My name is Jonas Dupuich and I am a Northern California bonsai enthusiast. I study and write about bonsai with guidance from Boon Manakitivipart, and I am a founding member of Bay Island Bonsai. Contact me at jonas at bonsaitonight dot com; send bonsai questions to Ask Bonsai Tonight.